Footfall on Scotland's high street is lagging the rest of the UK, a new report suggests.

Figures compiled by the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) suggest retail footfall in Scotland was minus 2.5 per cent in February year on year compared with a 0.8 per cent increase for the rest of the UK.

The poorest figure came from North England and Yorkshire with minus 2.7 per cent, closely followed by Scotland, according to the SRC/Springboard footfall monitor.

Greater London recorded the largest year-on-year increase – up 5.8 per cent – and six out of seven English regions reported a year-on-year rise in February footfall.

Northern Ireland also had a positive result of 2.6 per cent and Wales recorded a fall of 0.5 per cent.

SRC director Fiona Moriarty said the low footfall rates for Scotland in February are a reflection of low levels of consumer confidence and lower levels of sales growth.

She said: "Although February's sales figures showed some encouraging signs of improvement, we are reminded that the economic and trading environment remains fragile.

“Scottish retailers will be hoping that the arrival of spring and seasonal lifts from Mother's Day and Easter help to elevate this underwhelming figure into more positive territory in the coming months.”

Last week the SRC reported retail sales in Scotland rose by 0.7 per cent year on year in February, the third consecutive monthly rise in sales.

However, the rise in sales was led by food sales – up 3.4 per cent – and non-food was down 0.5 per cent, which was the strongest performance for non-food since March 2012.

SRC said taking into account shop price inflation of 1.1 per cent, February total sales were down 0.3 per cent in real terms.

Commenting on the latest footfall figures, a Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Scottish Government wants to see thriving town centres and we are doing all we can to support the retail sector.

"We are introducing measures such as our Fresh Start scheme to bring empty properties back into use and our Town Centre Review is tackling some of the longstanding issues by working with local councils to put the life back into our high streets.

"In these tough times we are maintaining Scotland's position as the most supportive business environment in the UK and our Small Business Bonus Scheme and other reliefs provide zero or reduced business rates for 63 per cent of shops in Scotland."